


Ripples

by OfTeacupsAndToads



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Multi, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:47:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29034891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfTeacupsAndToads/pseuds/OfTeacupsAndToads
Summary: Hermione is sent back in time during the battle at the Department of Mysteries, where she is stuck. As she comes to terms with this, she decides she isn't going to be a passive prisoner of the past.*****************************************Will be a full triangle relationship between James, Sirius and Hermione. Only read if that's your jam.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/James Potter, Sirius Black/Hermione Granger, Sirius Black/Hermione Granger/James Potter, Sirius Black/James Potter
Comments: 34
Kudos: 194





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one has been stuck in my head for a while. It won't be too long I don't think. A handful of chapters.

The battle was raging around her. Dolohov was casting almost quicker than she could parry. Hermione managed to get a hit in and silenced the wizard. She threw up a Protego and dashed back through the door she had come through. The time room. The death eater who had been hit earlier was still transforming from infant to wizened elderly wizard on loop. She was running for the other door when she felt the impact of a spell from behind and crashed into the shelves of timeturners. Her back was burning and she screamed as she felt the magic of the spilled sand envelop her and her world turned black. 

********************************************************

The screaming had alerted the Unspeakables to her presence. 

No one was meant to be researching in the time room and it was only happenstance that a pair of them had been passing by. They had rushed inside to find a small teenaged girl with wild hair and huge wound on her back passing out on the floor. 

Nothing in the room looked out of place so the elder of the two had placed a petrificus on her, so as not to hurt her more, and levitated her out of the room. The pair had quickly gotten her out of the Department of Mysteries and to the floos. Within minutes she was in a bed at St. Mungos with a gaggle of healers dealing with her injury. 

One of them walked back to the pair. “Croaker. What in Merlin happened to that girl?” The elder unspeakable could only shrug. “I don’t know Healer Marigold. We found the chit laying on the floor in one of the rooms of the Department. She had been screaming bloody murder, understandable that, what with the bloody big gash in he back. She passed out before we got to her and that is all I know.”

The healer heaved out a sigh. “The poor girl looks like she’s been through a battle. You have no idea how she got there? It’s not as if the DoM has a policy of allowing school aged girls to wander through its halls.”

Croaker just stared at her. 

“Ah. I see. It’s a need to know thing and I don’t need to know.”

He grumbled under his breath. “There will be an investigation. If anything pertinent to her care comes up, I’ll be sure to pass it along.” 

“Well I guess that’s the best that I’ll get. Now if you will excuse me. I need to contact Hogwarts and see if someone will come down and identify the girl. She’s wearing a uniform and it would be nice to get her family in.” Marigold turned and walked quickly towards her office and the private floo inside. 

Croaker glanced at the younger man at his side and then the group of healers still casting diagnostics and forcing potions down the girls throat. “C’mon then. We have to find out how she ended up there in the first place. He pulled his hood up and the pair of them left towards the public floos. 

*******************************

Marigold stuck her head in the floo and called out for Hogwarts. Soon enough Minerva McGonagall came into view. She was wearing a tartan house robe and her hair was down in a braid. 

“Healer! What can I do for you this evening. Is something the matter?”

Marigold gave a relieved nod. “Just the woman I was looking for. I have one of your cubs in a bed here at St. Mungos and I was wondering if you could pop through and help us identify her. She came to us unconscious and I’d like to notify her family as quickly as possible.”

Minerva pressed a hand to her breast. “One of my students? A Gryffindor? I can’t imagine who? Give me a moment to put some proper clothes on and I’ll be right through.” 

Marigold nodded again. “Thanks ever so. I’ll leave the connection open. She’s… she’s quite poorly. Nasty spell hit her back. Just so you're prepared.”

Minerva's face paled and she nodded grimly and walked out of sight. Marigold pulled herself from the floo and busied herself with what paperwork she could for the unknown girl. Glaring blanks stared at her. Name: Unknown. Age: Unknown. No medical history. 

The fireplace flashed green and Professor McGonagall came through. Her hair was still in the braid but now she was wearing a plain green set of robes. 

“Follow me? I’m Healer Marigold by the way.” Minerva smiled tightly. “I remember. Hufflepuff, graduated around 15 years ago or so?” Marigold huffed out a small laugh. She led the way down the hallway. “That’s right. I should have known you’d remember. The girls right in here.” They came up to the room with the unconscious girl. The crowd of healers had dwindled and now only two were present monitoring her. 

“Update?” Marigold asked as they entered and Minerva went to the head of the bed. 

“We can’t figure out what spell hit her. Best we can figure it was some variation of an organ withering spell, but it seems the execution was off, thank Merlin.” Minerva let out a small gasp and the healer looked at her before continuing on. 

“It split her back open down to the bone and had started on her kidneys and liver but we were able to halt its progress and started her on a series of potions to repair the damage. Her back will heal with no issues, just a thin scar we think. We are keeping her under for now to let the healing start. She’ll need to continue with a potion regime for a couple weeks to heal the internal damage fully, but I don’t believe that she will have any lasting damage. Very lucky all things considered.”

Marigold nodded and thanked the other healer before letting them know she’d stay and monitor the child. The two healers thanked her and left the room. She cast a monitoring charm that displayed her vitals on the wall over her head and looked at Minerva. 

“So Professor? Who is she?” 

Minerva brushed the hair off of the unconscious girl's hair back from her face. She looked right at Marigold. 

“I haven’t the foggiest idea.”

*******************************

Minerva continued to gently stroke the girl's hair. “I have never seen this girl before. You are sure she was wearing a Gryffindor Hogwarts uniform?”

Marigold summoned the clothes that she had been wearing from the chair at the side of the room. “See for yourself.” Minerva reached out and felt the red and gold tie. “I just don’t understand. Where was she found?”

Marigold looked a little uncomfortable. “The DoM. They wouldn’t elaborate on it. If you don’t know who she is, I guess I’ll have to contact the ministry and see if they’ll send an Auror to figure out where she’s from.”

“No. No. Don’t do that quite yet. Let’s just see what she has to say when she wakes. Do we know when that will be?”

Marigold checked the display. “Not for eight hours at least.” Minerva stood. “I’d like to be there when she does wake up. I’ll head back to Hogwarts and arrange for someone to cover my classes for tomorrow. I’ll be back before she stirs.”

Marigold gave her an odd look. “Are you sure Professor? There isn’t a need. I’m sure the Ministry-” Minerva cut her off. “No. It’s no trouble and she seems to be one of mine. I’d like to get to the bottom of this mystery and it seems like talking to her would be the first step.”

“Alright Professor. I’ll see you in a couple of hours then.”

Minerva gave the girls hair one more pet and then she turned towards the door. “Thank you Healer Marigold. May I use your floo again?” The healer nodded. “Of course. Let me walk you out. I have paperwork to see to for the girl anyways. As much as I can fill out for now at least.” 

****************************

Minerva brushed the soot off of her robes and hurried out of her rooms. Her first destination was the headmasters suite. 

She arrived at the Gargoyle guarding the stairs and snapped out “Pepper Imps”. It moved away and she quickly walked up the stairs. Albus was sitting at his desk when she walked into the room. He set his quill down and crooked an eyebrow at her. “What do I owe this very late night meeting to, Minerva?”

She sat down in a comfortable looking chair and stared at the older wizard. “Don’t you ever sleep Albus?” He smiled back at her. “I think you’ll find at my age that sleep is much less needed and interesting than being awake.” 

Minerva let out a snort. “Old busybody.” She reached out and took a candy from the dish on his desk. “I need at least one day off. Possibly more. I was called out to St. Mungos tonight and the situation will take a little time to deal with.” She popped the sweet into her mouth. 

Albus looked worried. “It’s not a family member is it Minerva? One of your brothers kin?”

She shook her head. “No, not family. The situation is still unclear but I’d like to help the Healers figure it out.”

Albus nodded slowly. “It’s most unusual but I don’t see that being a problem. I can cover your classes for a few days. If needed the other professors and I can spread them out. It won’t interfere with the other classes any.” 

Minerva nodded and sucked on her sweet. She stood and thanked Albus. “I need to be back at St. Mungos in less than eight hours so I’ll take my leave. I’ll update you as I learn more. Do not let the elder Mr. Black get away with any foolishness in class. It will only encourage the other Marauders.”

Albus twinkled at her. “I’ll be sure to keep an iron grip on things while you are away.” 

Minerva may have rolled her eyes, but as she was already halfway down the stairs, no one could prove it. 

***************************************

In the early hours Minerva floo’d to the entrance area of St. Mungos. She walked up to the reception witch and asked for directions to Healer Marigolds office. 

She was walking quickly down the hall when she bumped into the healer. “Oh Professor. Good morning to you. I was just heading to grab a quick cup of tea. Could I interest you in one?” The question was asked hopefully, as Marigold desperately needed one. 

“That would be lovely. Can you tell me how the girl fared during the night?” The two witches walked towards Marigolds office. 

“Not well I’m afraid. The curse she was hit with just turns nastier as time goes on. Instead of just hitting her liver and kidneys as we previously thought, it seems to have spread to her lymphatic and respiratory systems as well.”

Marigold flicked her wand at her small side table and two cups of tea levitated towards her two seats. She gratefully took hers and sat down, Minerva following her. 

“She took a turn during the night but we were able to stave off more damage and set it to rights. I’d hazard that she will have to stay here with us for several weeks though. Her left kidney was so damaged that it would be better to just regrow a new one and banish the old but that takes time.”

She paused and took a long sip of her tea. 

“Her magical core is dangerously low. All of her magic is trying to heal the spell damage and she seemed to have spent much of her power before she was hit. In order to not fracture her core she is going to have to refrain from any magic for at least a week. After that it will be only minor spells for another couple weeks.”

Minerva looked grave but nodded. “Is she still likely to wake soon?”

“Oh yes. I don’t like keeping people under longer than necessary. Their magic tends to get volatile after too long.” She took a long sip of her tea. 

“Well let’s go see the dear. Maybe she can shed some light on matters.”

************************************************

Hermione came awake slowly. Her back ached and her whole body felt like one big bruise. She shifted and her insides screamed in pain. She let out a gasp and immediately felt a soft hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t move lass. You’ve been hit by an unknown spell and the healers at St. Mungo’s haven’t finished your healing.”

Hermione carefully rolled her head and blinked the head of her house in to focus. “Oh Professor. How is everyone else? Harry, Ron? Neville?”

Professor McGonagall stared down at the girl. “I’m sorry, lass. I don’t know….” Hermione interrupted. “I know we shouldn’t have snuck out but we just had to. Harry got a vision and Sirius was in trouble.” 

“Sirius….Black?”

Hermione huffed out a breath in exasperation. “Of course Professor.”

Minerva sat down so that she was more even to the bed. 

“Lass. Sirius Black is safe and sound at Hogwarts.” 

“Can you tell me and the healer what happened, exactly? How did you end up in the Department of Mysteries?”

Hermione quickly told the series of events as thoroughly as possible. “And that’s when Dolohov hit me with a spell. I don’t know what it was. He was silenced. Please Professor. What happened to everyone else. Where are they?”

Minerva’s eyes met the healers and when she slowly nodded, spoke.

“I am unfamiliar with any of the people you named originally. More to the point lass, I have no clue who you might be.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione mostly understands her circumstances.

Hermione’s mouth snapped shut. She closed her eyes and her mind quickly whipped through the facts. 

She had been running through the Department of Mysteries. The last room she had been in was the time room. The memory of the time looped death eater passed through her mind and she shuddered. 

She opened her eyes and truly took in her favourite professor. 

Professor McGonagall’s face looked younger than she remembered, her hair darker, with less grey. Some of the lines time had drawn on her face were missing. 

“Please Professor…. what year is it?” She finally whispered. 

The older witches eyes had widened and her gaze flew to the healers. 

“Why, it’s 1976. June 20th.”

Hermione had squeezed her eyes closed, a tear leaking out. 

“Oh.”

Healer Marigold's mind had been working just as quickly as the unknown girl's. 

“Merlin. I’ll contact Croaker. He’ll know what’s best.” She hurried quickly out of the room to her office. 

Minerva watched her go and then focused on the girl. She gently moved some of her curls off of her face. “Can you tell me your name?”

Hermione bit her lip. “I don’t know if I should. I was told terrible things happen to witches and wizards that meddle with time.”

Minerva scoffed. “Child. It’s too late for that. I will make an oath if you want not to relay what’s been said, but I already know you are a time traveller and I can postulate much about the time you came from. A simple name at this point won’t shatter the time stream.”

Hermione groaned. “No, you’re right. My name is Hermione.”

Minerva nodded. “Good. Now some more basics if you please. Age?”

“I’m 16, just finishing my fifth year at Hogwarts.”

“You are a Gryffindor?”

A slow nod. “Yes ma’am.”

“Now this is very important. I know you won’t want to tell me but needs must. I can deduce that you are from at least 17 years in the future. There is no child in the book at the school with your name. Am I to believe that the Dark Lord is still at large at this time?”

Another slow nod. 

“Dear Merlin.” Minerva whispered. “Does….. no. No more. No more questions until we speak with Croaker.”

It wasn’t a minute more before he appeared in the room with Marigold. 

“Alright. First thing. I’ll be needing an oath from the two of you to not speak of anything the girl says to anyone but who’s here.”

“Hermione.”

He stared at Minerva. “What?” 

“Not ‘the girl’ you overbearing fool. She is a traumatized teenaged girl named Hermione. Please act as if you had a heart.”

“Ah. Yes. Well. Still. We shall all need oaths made to keep what is said in confidence. What Hermione says could be used for great harm to the world.”

Hermione tried to turn over onto her back, only to have Marigold put a gentle but firm hand onto her shoulder. 

“I’d really like to be able to see everyone.”

“I know dear but you’ll do more damage to your back if you lay on it.”

Hermione huffed out a breath. “Fine. But sir, shouldn’t we call the Headmaster? Wouldn’t he be helpful? He’s ever so wise.”

The room went silent as the adults silently conferred with each other. 

“Ah. No. I think not. I’m sure Albus has enough on his plate without drawing him into this.”

Minerva snorted. “One old busybody is quite enough.”

He glared at her, but didn’t disagree. 

Croaker got oaths from all three witches and then had Hermione go through her story once more. 

“Extraordinary.”

He had produced a notebook and was busily scribbling away. “You know of course that it is almost unheard of for a witch or wizard to have travelled back as far as you?”

Hermione nodded. “I was warned about meddling with time and my limitations with it.”

“You were warned?”

She blushed. “Oh. I was given a time turner in my third year so that I could take every class offered.”

Minerva’s eyebrow raised. “Every class?” 

“Yes. I ended up dropping Divination and Muggle studies after that year though.”

Croaker cleared his throat. “To bring the conversation back to the matter at hand.” He paused for a second. “You are aware my dear, that you won’t be able to return to your time period?”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “What!” 

Croaker looked a little uncomfortable at her emotion. “Even if we had the ability to send you back, which we don’t, the years would follow you home. You would age over two decades in that moment. The stress upon your body and magic would likely kill you. No. I’m afraid that you will be living here with us, from now on.”

Hermione’s shoulders shook from the effort of keeping her tears at bay. Marigold’s face creased in concern. 

“Why don’t we give you a few moments alone. We’ll just go fetch some tea and be back in a few moments.” She motioned the other two adults out of the room, silencing the door once they were through. 

“That poor girl. Whatever is going to become of her?”

Minerva looked grim. “I’m not sure.”

“This is still under oath, you understand. The DoM has a fund for… displaced witches and wizards. We shall be able to outfit her with a small stipend which will assure her needs are seen to. She will need someplace to stay though.”

Marigold shook her head. “It won’t be a problem for a while. I’d guess that she will be here in the hospital for at least a month. That curse is just nasty, and I’m not sure how long it will take to eradicate it fully and regrow or repair the affected organs.”

“Well that gives us a bit of time to figure things out at least.” His eyes snapped to McGonagalls. “I assume you will be able to smooth the way for her at the school? She will need to attend come fall.”

Minerva blinked. “I… yes. Yes I should be able to work something out. While rare, it is not unheard of to get late start students. Especially with the current state of the world.” Just last year they had three young students start in the middle of the year when their parents had been killed, and their new guardians had been unable to teach them at home. 

“She has refused to tell us her last name.”

Croaker nodded. “For the best. She won’t be able to use it anymore. She’s what, three, four years before her own birth? Can’t have two of her showing up in official documents.” 

In the room Hermione let her tears fall as she said a silent goodbye to everything she had known. 

*******************************

Over the next few weeks, as she went through the painful process of healing and regrowing her damaged organs, Croaker and Professor McGonagall were her constant visitors. 

Croaker took many notes on her past. Between the two of them, they figured she had slipped back and to the side. The timelines were similar, but not exact. At first Hermione had thought she was just misremembering her wizarding history, but Croaker brought in a muggle modern history book for her. It only took a few minutes of reading before she slammed the book shut and shook her head. There had never been a Third World War in her time stream. 

So began their cat and mouse game of her trying to keep major divergences secret, and him trying to wheedle and trick them out of her. She honestly relished the traded quips. It kept her mind off of the fact that she was stuck.

Minerva visited every day after classes and provided her reading material and biscuits along with her conversation. Hermione told her about her time at Hogwarts and how she had just sat her OWLS. She kept it strictly to class work and tried to never mention any students or new teachers. 

Over time though, she became less guarded. A genuine friendship blossomed between the two witches. Hermione felt much closer to Minerva (as she had told her to call her after a week of visits) than she had ever felt towards a teacher. 

When school had been out for the year for about two weeks, Minerva and Marigold were visiting with Hermione and brought up her living situation. 

“Now missy. You still have another week or so here at the hospital, but after that you will have a couple options.”

Hermione listened intently. She had been fretting about where she would go, but hadn’t felt comfortable bringing it up.

Minerva took up the conversation. “There is an orphanage for magical children that could take you in. You’d stay there during the summers until you finished your schooling.” 

Hermione nodded slowly, but inside she was crumbling. She didn’t want to go to an orphanage with however many other kids. She relished her independence and privacy. 

“There are also several families who are able and willing to take in another person. These are people who have been vetted, they have been prepared to take in children who are without relatives. 

She perked up at this. “Like a foster family? May I ask who?”

“A couple families with school aged children. The Bones family, the Shacklebolts and the Prewitts come to mind.”

Hermione recognized all the names, and knew some of their family members fates. 

Marigold had been watching the emotions flit across her face. She rested a gentle hand on hers. 

“Then there’s always… me. As a Healer I can step in and offer a home to you. I have also been vetted. I…have quite come to respect and like you my dear. And you wouldn’t have to worry about spilling any secrets to me, I already know most of them.”

Hermione smiled at her. “Oh that would be lovely. If you don’t think I’d be a bother? I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”

Marigold waved her hand at her. “Psh. No worries there. I have the room at my house, and there’s only me there. Family home you understand, and the rest of my family has passed on. The only concern is that I do work long hours. Will you be alright by yourself?”

Hermione nodded. “Yes. My… my parents were very busy dentists, tooth healers, themselves. I spent much of my time on my own.”

Minerva’s face creased into a frown. That was unfortunate for the girl. “Ach, nevermind for this summer at least, lass. If it’s amenable to you, I’d like to meet up several times a week to get you ready to take, or I guess retake your OWLS. I’ve spoken to someone at the ministry in education and there is a time to sit them in middle of August. Enough time to get your marks and enroll you in the classes you want for the new school year.” 

Hermione stared nonplussed. She had been so wrapped up in mourning her lost past/future that she hadn’t even considered the present. 

“I’m going to Hogwarts?”

“What? Of course you are! Where else would you go?”

She shrugged helplessly. “I hadn’t considered it. I just assumed that I would have to stay hidden, away from speculation. Go to a different school? I didn’t think I’d be allowed. I don’t want to mess up the timeline.”

Both adult witches' faces softened. “Oh Hermione. You still don’t understand. You are part of this timeline now. There is no hiding, no altering it or breaking it. It just is. I’ll have Croaker try and explain it a bit more to you the next time he visits. You mustn’t just let him treat you as an interesting thing to study!”

Hermione blushed a little. “I enjoy our conversations and debates. His viewpoints are fascinating.”

“Ugh. I’m sure that they are. Man has a cockeyed view of the world, all the Unspeakables do. It helps with their chosen career but makes them annoying dinner conversationalists.”

Hermione giggled. 

***********************************

Marigold had purchased a couple outfits for Hermione, so she’d have something to wear when she left the hospital. She had tried to say no, but Marigold had just laughed and asked her if she was planning on wearing her uniform every day until she went back to school. 

She was wearing the soft grey dress and matching robes, and shifting foot to foot with her excitement to finally be leaving. Marigold sniggered to herself as she filled out the last of the paperwork to discharge her. 

“All right then Hermione. Let’s be off. We need to meet Croaker at the ministry first and then we will go to Diagon to get you a new wand as well as other necessities.”

Hermione was still saddened by the loss of her vinewood wand. Croaker had said it wasn’t present where she had been found. She must have dropped it when she had been hit. She shook off her melancholy and smiled at the older witch. She was so excited to be leaving the hospital. 

They excited the floo in the ministry, Marigold magicing the spot off of them and Hermione spotted the hooded form of Croaker a few feet away. 

She waved and he pushed his hood back enough to give her a wink before shrouding his face again. Marigold snorted. “Yes yes, very mysterious. C’mon then let’s get this over with.”

Croaker led them through the sparsely populated area to a hallway off the side. They travelled through a warren of rooms and halls and ended before a nondescript door with “D & L Records” on it. 

“D and L?” Hermione asked. 

Croaker pulled his hood off and answered. “Displaced and Lost. The ministry acknowledges that sometimes wizards go missing in time. Mary inside here is in charge of documenting it at also helping out current wanderers. Like you.”

He opened the door and the three of them entered the tiny, cramped office. A witch with mousy brown hair in a tight bun and huge owl like eyes behind large spectacles blinked at them. “Oh. Hello Croaker. Is this the girl you told me about?”

Croaker nodded and gestured for Hermione to take the only spare chair in the room. “This is Hermione. She will need the full work up. Marigold here is taking her in. 

Mary nodded and reached into a drawer, pulling out a large stack of papers. “I’ve readied everything, based on the information you gave me. All you need to do is pick out a new last name, sign a few things and I’ll have everything filed away, integrating you fully with this times ministry. 

Hermione blinked. “Just like that?” Mary nodded solemnly. “Just like that.”

“Huh.” She sat and thought about what she wanted for a last name. She thought about all the movies she watched with her mum, all the old actors. Gable maybe? No. She didn’t want a G name. Clarke. 

“Clarke, please. With an ‘E’ at the end.”

Mary gestured to the pile of papers. “Please just fill out the first page. It will automatically appear on the rest of the pages and you will be done. 

Hermione quickly scanned the page, noting her new birthdate and the fact that she had made up parents (last name blank). She filled in all the blanks and a small ‘woosh’ of magic and light accompanied her last pen stroke. 

Mary pulled the papers back and flipped through, double checking. 

“Everything looks in order, Miss Clarke. Welcome to 1976.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione arrives at Hogwarts. We -almost- meet the Marauders

Hermione stood quietly, watching the platform fill with students and their families. The people swirled around her, constant motion, noise and colour. 

Marigold had taken the morning off of work so that she could see Hermione off on her first day. 

“You ready lovey?” She asked gently. 

Hermione nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. She had broken down during the time that she had lived with her and spoken of all her fears of seeing people that she knew were dead in her time. 

_“They are ghosts to me Marigold! I know how they die! I know which of them will have children and which never get the chance. How am I meant to sit beside them in classes, pass them pumpkin juice at lunch?”_

The healer had just held her close and let her cry and rage. When she had quieted she had again reminded her of what Croaker told her. _“The future you remember, may or may not happen, love. You must let go of what you think you know. Your world is different from this one. Yes, things may play out the same. But there is just as much, no more than, a chance that things will be different.”_

It was something that she kept repeating to herself now. 

The memories of other rides on this train played in her mind. The nervousness and excitement of her very first trip. She had been so very excited at the chance to make real friends. The rides every year after that, sitting with Harry and Ron, well, most years. 

No. She couldn’t think of that, of them now. 

“I’ll be ok.” She spared her a quick smile. Marigold smiled back. 

“I know you will darling. You promise to write? I want to hear everything.”

Hermione gave a short nod and reached down to stroke the soft feathers of her owl. 

They had found Greta on that first day out of the hospital. Hermione had thought she might like another cat, but once they had arrived at the pet shop, the thought of replacing Crookshanks was too hard. An owl made logical sense to her, as she meant to keep up her communication with both Marigold and Croaker. 

Greta was a tiny Northern Saw-Whet owl, who quite enjoyed burrowing into one of Hermione’s pockets whenever the opportunity arose. Hermione was grateful for it at the moment, as her slight warm weight was a comfort. Her cage sat empty on top of Hermione’s trunk, waiting for when Greta wanted to emerge. 

“Alright. You best be getting on now. Write tonight. Or tomorrow. But soon. Tell me about the sorting.”

Hermione smiled a little larger now and gave Marigold a careful hug. “Thank you for everything Marigold. I’ll see you at Christmas.”

“Yes you will. Goodbye darling!”

Hermione dragged her trunk onto the train, the empty cage swinging from her other hand. She stopped at the first empty carriage she came to and got herself settled. 

Greta made a noise and Hermione lifted her out of her pocket. “Want a bit more room?” She popped her in the cage and set it gently on the seat next to her. 

She stared out the window as other students hurried on, their families calling out goodbyes. Eventually the train gave a shudder and started moving. She pulled a book out of her pocket and prepared to settle in for the journey. 

The door pushed open and a blond head peeked through. “Oh there’s only one person in here!” She called over their shoulder. 

Several girls came in and got settled on the benches. The one who had spoken smiled warmly at Hermione and introduced herself. “Hi! I’m Marlene! That’s Dorcas, Tamsin, Effie, Alice and Pandora. Who are you?”

The girls all smiled at Hermione, some a little more shyly than Marlene, but all with apparent friendliness. 

“Hermione Clarke. It’s nice to meet you.” She said politely. A photo she had seen once flashed in her memory and she picked out the people she recognized. She gave a mental shake to focus on the present. 

All of the girls were staring at her, waiting for more. She scrambled to keep to the story that Croaker and the ministry had constructed for her. 

“Oh. Um. This is my first year at Hogwarts. My parents were teaching me at home before this but are… unable to now. I just took my OWLS so will be starting NEWT classes.”

Several of the girls shared a look between them at her pause, but Marlene just plowed on ahead. 

“Oh! You’ll be in classes with me and Dorcas then! Everyone else is in last year. Do you know what you are taking?”

Hermione nodded and they all settled into a conversation about the classes, telling her about the teachers she would have and about Hogwarts in general. 

“You’ll be sorted into a house with the first years.” Pandora said, with a soft, dreamy voice. “It’s not the first time that we’ve seen an older student sorted, so it shouldn’t cause too much excitement.”

Dorcas snorted. “Sure. Like the Jamisons didn’t give the school enough gossip to get us through the year. It’s ok though. We all know what’s happening out there, so people won’t pester you too badly. It’s just exciting to get a new face.”

There was a knock on the door and everyone looked towards the window. There was a tall blond boy grinning through it. 

Alice made a happy noise. Turning to Hermione she said “That’s my Frank. I’ll see you all later.” She quickly left, jumping into Frank’s arms as soon as she was through the door. 

Marlene snorted. “They’ve been together since third year. I think Alice is a little bit excited about the fact that he made head boy. I’m sure they will make great use of his mostly private rooms.”

Effie gave a dramatic shudder. “The poor head girl! Do we know who it is?”

Pandora hummed. “Hmm. It’s that nice girl from Hufflepuff. The one with the red hair.”

“Gracie?”

“Yes. Her. She will be a wonderful head girl.”

Effie nodded in agreement. “Yes, she will. She is nice.” Turning to face Hermione she said “Most everyone in Hufflepuff is nice. Do you know about the houses at school?”

Hermione nodded slowly. “Yes. I read about them in Hogwarts a History. My um... foster mother? Told me about them too. She was a Hufflepuff.”

“We are a mix of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors here. Me and Dorcas are Griffs, and Alice but Pan, Tam and Effie are all ‘Claws. Do you know where you want to go?”

This was a question that had been plaguing her. Did she want to be a Gryffindor again? Maybe. Would it be too hard to see the familiar rooms and miss all the familiar faces though? She knew she couldn’t be a Slytherin. Even though her cover had her as a Half-blood now, there wasn’t even a chance she would make it in the snake pit. She wasn't altruistic enough to imagine she would be placed in with the Puffs. She knew she would do well in Ravenclaw. She did love learning and logic. 

“I’m not sure. Maybe Gryffindor? I did well on my exams so maybe I’ll go to Ravenclaw.”

Tamsin smiled at her. “Wherever you end up, at least you’ll have some friendly faces around. Hopefully you’ll end up with us. The year below us is really outnumbered boys to girls, so it would be nice to have an extra girl to even it out a bit.”

Hermione smiled back. “Maybe. I guess we’ll see. Marigold told me it was a hat? That did the sorting?”

There were mock gasps from all the girls. “She told you? You are supposed to think you need to battle a dragon or something. You’re meant to be excited and scared.”

“Don’t worry. I’m plenty excited and scared even knowing it’s just a hat. This is a… big change for me.”

******************

Hermione stood uncertainly, unsure what to do after she got off the train. The girls had all waved goodbye to her, promising to see her at the welcoming feast. Should she just get in a carriage? Go to the boats with the first years. 

“Hermione?”

She turned sharply, her curls flying wildly. 

A short, plump girl with dark red hair was standing a few feet away from her. 

“Yes, that’s me.”

The girl nodded and gave her a wide smile. “Oh good. I’m Gracie. Head Girl this year. Professor McGonagall had sent word that we were getting a new older student and asked if I would show you the way.”

Hermione felt relief course through her. “Oh that’s wonderful. Thank you so much. I wasn’t sure where to go.”

“No trouble at all. C’mon. Let’s go get a carriage so we aren’t late. I’m to show you to the sorting area. After you are sorted, a prefect from your house will show you how to get to your dorms and whatnot. The schools a bit confusing, but it doesn’t take long to learn the way.”

Gracie kept up a stream of chatter that helped to distract Hermione on the ride to the castle. It was amazing actually, it hardly seemed that Gracie needed to breathe. 

“Alright. Here we are. The room will be packed with little first years. Good luck, Hermione!” She gestured to the door and then left to go to the great hall. 

Hermione slipped through the door and stood near the back of the room against the wall. The room was packed, far more first years than when she started at Hogwarts, but none of them seemed to really notice her. They were all too excited, bandying ideas about what they had to do to be sorted, each idea more outlandish than the last. 

Minerva entered and everyone went silent. She made eye contact with Hermione and gave her a tiny smile and a nod. 

She launched into her speech about the houses being each student's family while at school. Hermione smiled to find it wasn’t much different than what she had heard in her own time stream. 

Quickly they were all herded into the great hall, and Hermione watched as the first students got sorted. 

She let her gaze drift across the room and her breath caught. Harry. She watched as he sat there joking with a couple other boys. No. Not Harry. James. God. They really were similar. She realized that the boys around him must be the other Marauders. Yes. That could definitely be a younger Remus, not so tired and more carefree. She couldn’t see any visible scars from this distance. 

Next to him was a boy with longish dark hair. He ran his hand through it and pushed it off his face and yes. It was Sirius. He more than the Remus was so different from when she knew him. His face was smooth, the effects of prison that had so aged him absent. He looked so happy, and well, sane. He laughed and shoved the smaller boy beside him. 

_Peter._

Her eyes narrowed. Even knowing that it was years before he would betray his friends and that this wasn’t her world, she ground her teeth at the pain that small, unassuming boy would cause. 

“Hermione Clarke!”

The room went quiet as she made her way to the stool, and just before the hat was placed on her head, made eye contact with an intrigued looking Sirius. 

“Hmm. What do we have here? Interesting. Very interesting. I can see you have met me before, but I haven’t met you! Lovely. A Gryffindor were you?”

Hermione thought at the hat. “Yes. Though you almost put me in Ravenclaw.”

“Did I now? That is interesting. No. I think not. Though your wit would fit in with the studious lot, I think I will have to agree with my future self, it will have to be GRYFFINDOR!” 

She took the hat off and made her way to the cheering table. She watched as Sirius said something to the younger kids sitting on his other side and they all scooted down. 

“Miss Clarke is it? Would you like to sit here?” He gestured to the now open spot. The rest of the Marauders looked on with keen interest.

“Oh thank you, Mr. -?” “Black, Sirius Black” 

Hermione gave a tiny snort at the Bond like introduction. 

“Mr. Black. Thank you, but I see a friend. Maybe next time.”

She ignored his exaggerated pout and went to sit next to Marlene, who had been waving frantically at her. 

“Oh Hermione! It’s so wonderful you’re here with us! Let me introduce you to everyone. You’ve already met Alice and Dorcas. That’s Jaz, Lily, Pippa and Sara. Lily and Sara are in our year so we will all be in a dorm together!”

Hermione worked very hard to not stare at Lily as she said hello to everyone. 

They watched and cheered as the rest of the first years were sorted, and then filled their plates when the food appeared on the table. 

She shot a furtive glance down the table and noticed that more than one of the Marauders were staring at her. 

Trying for nonchalance, she gave a little head tilt towards them. “Who are those boys?”

Lily scoffed. “The self styled Marauders. Immature toerags who delight in pranking and annoying anyone and everyone. I’d steer clear if I was you.”

Marlene smiled and theatrically whispered in Hermione’s ear. “James, the one with short black hair, has been after Lily for years. Told the whole school he would marry her one day. I’ve never seen Lily blush so hard before. She hexed his hair purple for a week for that one.”

“Oh. Who are the other two?”

Alice piped up. “The thin one is Remus. He’s the other prefect, with Lils here for your year. Super clever, just don’t ask him for potions help. Utterly useless there. The short one is Peter. He’s pretty quiet. Follows the other three around mostly.”

Hermione snuck another look down and caught James staring at them. “I think James is staring at you Lily.”

The redhead didn’t look their way, and didn’t say anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for all the comments and kudos! Its really encouraging. I'm trying to get the chapters out as fast as possible, but I don't write in order unfortunately. Eventually it will come faster.


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